


Isolated Gestures, Ahistorical Accidents

by derryderrydown



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-22
Updated: 2010-01-22
Packaged: 2017-10-06 13:30:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/derryderrydown/pseuds/derryderrydown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I wroted an SGA story! And it probably clashes with eighty-five trillion pieces of canon and embraces another eighty-five trillion pieces of fanon.</p><p>And it's about an OFC. Oh, yeah. <i>Everybody's</i> gonna read this one.</p><p>See, I have this problem with shows that focus on a small number of people out of a large background cast, which is that I start to wonder just how damn <i>frustrating</i> it must be to live your life as a background character.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Isolated Gestures, Ahistorical Accidents

She'd joined the Marine Corps because they were the best and her father had said she'd never make it.

She'd fought for the best postings and the best positions and found herself at SGC, which should have been enough.

But she was never SG-1. She was sentry duty and supplies and that one time she was assigned to SG-4 to cover maternity leave.

When the rumours of an expedition to Atlantis began to make the rounds, she started her campaign to be part of it.

And she may be in a different galaxy now but everything else is the same. There's SGA-1 with the military commander, the head of science, the leader of the local village and the destined-for-greatness lieutenant - and then there are the other teams. The ones who die quietly from poisonous plants; the ones who get shot in the first five minutes of a mission and never get to see Atlantis again; the ones who simply don't get to have dramatic last-minute escapes.

She speaks to Major Sheppard about it once, on one of the few occasions when he's actually in his office. "Sir," she says. "I'd like to join your team."

She has her speech prepared - all about how his entire team is invaluable to Atlantis and they should take more disposable protection with them; about her excellent reports from previous commanding officers; about her experience in the field - but he just smiles at her, half his attention on something else, and says, "We work well as we are. Thanks for offering," and she finds herself outside his door without having said a word.

And, damn it, she's got that warmth in her chest and she's fighting a grin off her face and she is _not_ developing a crush on her commanding officer.

Yeah, she thinks. Good luck with that.

She's been a Marine for long enough to know that relationships between enlisted and officers happen no matter how many rules there are against it.

She's been a Marine for long enough to know that Major Sheppard's not the sort to break those rules.

One day, her platoon is marched into sickbay and Dr. Beckett explains - sort of - about the gene therapy and she gets a needle stuck in her arm. The next day, they go to a lab where a Japanese scientist gives her a piece of Ancient technology and she thinks, _ON!_ at it but nothing happens and she hadn't really expected it to. Ramzan tries after her and the object gives a burp then glows bright green, and Ramzan's swept off and the next time she sees him, he's having lunch with a group of scientists, earnestly discussing something.

She starts working out more; spends more time on the improvised rifle range; even makes a stab at learning Ancient but, after a month of getting nowhere, decides her brain really isn't wired for languages.

Her team negotiates a trade agreement that brings in some much-needed fresh food and she gets a, "Good work," and an approving smile from Major Sheppard and she spends the rest of the day grinning like an idiot.

She's on duty in the gate room when SGA-1 ships out on a routine mission to scope out a possible ZPM. She watches as Major Sheppard herds his team together, watches the expression on his face as he steps through the gate a stride ahead of them, and she's always been fiercely independent but, just for a moment, she wishes that someone would look out for her like that.

Wrong job, she tells herself. She does the protecting; she doesn't get protected.

Half an hour later, the gate siren sounds. "Teyla's IDC," she calls. "They're coming in hot." Her P90's always to hand and she's in position before Teyla bursts through the event horizon, Lt. Ford on her heels. They're being shot at, actual bullets rather than energy weapons. There's a long moment before Dr. McKay falls through to sprawl face down on the floor, and it's only a split-second after that Major Sheppard's there, landing on top of Dr. McKay.

"Ow!" Dr. McKay complains, wriggling out from under him. "An entire _gate room_ to choose from and you have to- Oh my god, you're bleeding, you're _shot!_"

"I had noticed," Major Sheppard says through gritted teeth, and she's already called for a medical team by the time McKay bellows, "Carson! Gate room, _now!_" into his radio.

It only takes half an hour for the rumour mill to spread the word that the major's going to be fine, that the bullet just missed his femoral artery. It takes longer for the smear of blood on the gate room floor to be cleaned up.

She's on her way to dinner in the mess when she bumps - almost literally - into Teyla. On impulse, she says, "I'm glad Major Sheppard's okay."

Teyla smiles at her, warm and friendly but impersonal. "Thank you, that's very kind." And she thinks Teyla might have been about to ask her name, might have been about to start a conversation, but Teyla's face assumes the familiar distraction of somebody listening to their radio. "I'm on my way," she says, and walks away.


End file.
